Avatar: Not the Last Airbender REWRITE
by Nytherinz
Summary: What if Avatar Aang never disappeared for 100 years? What if he was there to protect the Air Nomads from Sozin and his comet? Aang stands his ground against the genocide against his people!
1. Prologue

**Hello old and new readers of ANTLA! I first started this fanfiction in April 2013 and went on a hiatus in May 2013. It was because of writers block and that the story was a "what if" story so that made it even more overwhelming. This chapter will be explaining the backstory of how Aang learned he was the Avatar for those of who you don't know and why he ran away into the Storm. There will be content from the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode "The Storm" in this chapter. I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's characters. **

_**Southern Air Temple, 0 AG**_

_(The pan up changes quickly from the rock of the cave to an outdoor shot of the Southern Air Temple in its heyday. A stone plaza is populated with many young airbenders playing games, a flying bison soars in the distance.)_

_(Cut to a shot of Aang addressing a group of young airbenders. Most seem Aang's age or younger, one is taller and probably older. Aang demonstrates the air scooter move.)****_

**Aang**: First, you form a ball. Then you gotta get on quick. _****_

_(Aang makes an air ball and sits on it fast. He laughs and begins to move at terrific speed across the plaza. He goes upside down in a nearby archway under a walking bridge, then climbs a wall and gets up on to the bridge, coming back to the plaza by a nearby set of stairs. Aang exclaims "yeh!" and "woohoo!" as he travels. Cut to the older boy, who readies his own attempt.)****_

**Older Boy**: Okay! Here goes! _(He makes a ball.)**  
**_**Aang**: Quick, get on! _**  
**_**Older Boy**: Wh, wh, whoaaaa! _(He wobbles and is thrown.)_Ugh! **_  
_Aang**_(dismounting his own scooter)_: You kinda have to balance on it like it's a top. _(He twirls his finger to demonstrate.)**  
**_**Older Boy**: Man, that's hard. _****_

_(A young boy enters the screen from the left and tugs at Aang's shoulder.)****_

**Young Boy**: Where'd ya learn that trick, Aang? _**  
**_**Aang**: I made it up. _**  
**_**Young Boy******_(doing a goofy dance)_: Wow! _****_

_(Screen pans left to show five elderly airbender monks on the stones steps leading up to the bridge. Monk Gyatso is one of them.)****_

**Monk Gyatso**: Aang, come with us. We need to speak with you. _****_

_(Cut to Aang, who obeys with a look of trepidation on his face, the other kids looking at him strangely. Cut to a chamber in the Air Temple where the five elder monks sit cross-legged and serene on five evenly spaced stools. The middle monk's stool rests under an ornate parasol; he is likely the leader or abbot of the monastery. Monk Gyatso is the second from the left. Aang kneels in front of them, head down, his back to the camera. He lifts his head to address them.)****_

**Aang**: How do you know it's me? _**  
**_**Elder Monk #4**: We have known you were the Avatar for some time. Do you remember these? _****_

_(The fourth monk on the right who has just spoken reveals a rolled up package, which he airbends over to Aang. It lands at his feet and rolls open of its own accord. Inside are four children's toys. On the left is a little toy turtle. Second from the left is a propeller toy. Third from the left is a little monkey or donkey. The fourth is rattle type object with yellow and red swirls on its face.)****_

**Aang**: Those were some of my favorite toys when I was little! _(He picks up the propeller toy.)**  
**_**Elder Monk #4**: You chose them from among thousands of toys, Aang. The toys you picked were the four Avatar relics. These items belonged to Avatars past. Your own past lives. _**  
**_**Aang**: I just chose them because they seemed fun. _****_

_(He smiles and pulls the cord on the propeller toy, sending the propeller spinning into the air. It spins through the air and the scene cuts back to a close view of the five monks.)****_

**Elder Monk #4**: You chose them because they were familiar. _**  
**_**Monk Gyatso**: Normally we would have told you of your identity when you turned 16, but there are troubling signs, storm clouds are gathering. _**  
**_**Abbot**: I fear that war may be upon us, young Avatar. _**  
**_**Monk Gyatso**: We need you, Aang. __

_(Fade to another flashback at the plaza near the south wall of the Southern Air Temple. This time the plaza is full of young airbenders riding on air scooters, laughing, and having fun.)****_

**Aang**: Hey, not bad! You guys have been practicing! _**  
**_**Young Boy******_(scooting around Aang)_: Not only that, we made up a game you can play with the air scooters! _**  
**_**Aang**: Great! _****_

_(Aang makes his own air scooter, but the young boy looks confused and a bit alarmed. He stops his scooter. The shot widens to show the other young airbenders stopping their scooters as well.)****_

**Aang******_(dismayed)_: What's going on? _**  
**_**Older Boy******_(unhappy, but without malice)_: Now that you're the Avatar, it's kind of an unfair advantage for whichever team you're on. _**  
**_**Aang******_(trying to smile)_: But I'm still the same – nothing's changed. So, what, I can't play? _**  
**_**Older Boy**: That's the only fair way. _**  
**_**Aang******_(dismounting his scooter)_: Oh, ok. _**  
**_**Young Boy**: Sorry, Aang. _****_

_(The young airbenders look upon as he retreats from them, sadness in their eyes. The older boy turns to address them.)****_

**Older Boy**: Okay, now who wants to have Jinju on their team? _****_

_(Screen pans right to reveal a dirty looking airbender boy with a stupid grin on his face who makes an equally stupid noise. Cut to a view of Aang and Gyatso playing Pai Sho through an exterior window. Then a close up of Aang, who absentmidndely moves a token on the board. He is sad and distracted.)****_

**Monk Gyatso**: Very interesting move, young one. _**  
**_**Aang**: What do you mean? _****_

_(Behind his back, Monk Gyatso begins to bend air in an arch over his head and behind Aang. The wind blows Aang's hood up over his face, giving the old monk time to switch a few pieces before Aang can remove the hood.)****_

**Aang******_(pointing at the board)_: Hey! _****_

_(Both begin to laugh. The door opens to reveal one of the other monk elders, in fact the one who had been sitting fourth from the right in the prior scene.)****_

**Elder Monk #4**: You're playing games with him? The Avatar should be training. _**  
**_**Monk Gyatso**: Aang has already trained enough for today. _**  
**_**Elder Monk #4**: Time is short. Come with me. I must test you on some high level techniques. _****_

_(Aang gets up and begins to follow the Elder out of the room. Monk Gyatso then raises his hand in a gesture of cessation.)****_

**Monk Gyatso**: No, as long as I am his guardian, I will decide when he trains and when he gets his butt kicked at Pai Sho. _**  
**_**Elder Monk #4******_(close up, clearly angry)_: Huh! _****_

_(The Elder Monk stalks off as Aang turns to smile at Monk Gyatso._)

_(Aang's flashback resumes, this time of Monk Gyatso and Elder Monk #4 standing in front of the monk who sits on the middle stool under the parasol, presumably the abbot.)****_

**Monk Gyatso**: Aang needs to have freedom and fun. He needs to grow up as a normal boy. _**  
**_**Elder Monk #4**: Humph! You cannot keep protecting him from his destiny. _**  
**_**Abbot**: Gyatso, I know you mean well, but you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment. _**  
**_**Monk Gyatso**: All I want is what is best for him. _**  
**_**Abbot**: But what we need is what's best for the world. _(Looking down for a moment before raising his head to continue)_You and Aang must be separated. The Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training. **__**

_(Monk Gyatso bows as the camera zooms past him to reveal Aang eavesdropping through a hole in the ceiling, his eyes alarmed and distraught.___)

_(S__howing an overhead shot of the young airbender monks hard at play on their air scooters back at the south wall. The shot zooms backwards to reveal that we are seeing the kids from Aang's p.o.v. – he is watching them from a window high up in the Temple. He is sad and clearly longs to be normal again. ____Aang leaves his window and flops dejectedly on his bed.__)_

_(The scene fades to a night scene in the hallway outside of Aang's bedroom. Monk Gyatso approaches, knocks and enters.)_

**Monk Gyatso**: Aang, I'm not going to let them take you away from me. Aang?

_(Gyatso sees a rolled up scroll on Aang's bed. He picks it up and opens it, his eyes going wide in concern. He draws an intake of breath to look at the window where it is storming violently. _

_(The flashback continues with Aang's and Appa's plunge into the sea during the storm.__)_

**So that was the prologue. It actually did not take so long considering I found a transcript of "The Storm" for you guys. I tried to edit it as much as possible. Next time we will see what happens when Aang and Appa are forced into the Iceberg by Aang in the Avatar State.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey again! So this is Chapter 1 of ANTLA. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to review/pm me for questions/comments.**

**Spring 0 AG, Somewhere between the Southern Air Temple and the Southern Water Tribe. **

_Aang's POV_

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Yelled Aang as he and Appa plunged into the stormy waters.

Appa and I tried to fight against the currents but the currents were too strong for even us to escape. We were sinking faster than imaginable into the depths and I didn't know what to as my vision was fading.

_I've failed before I've even began, _thought Aang as the last of his strength slipped away.

Suddenly, my arrows were lighting the whole area and I found myself doing some high leveled waterbending to create a barrier against the cold ocean currents, only I didn't know how I was doing it because it surely wasn't me moving my arms in such a stance. All of a sudden I was swept away from the ocean and was in a different place. The last thing I saw before slipping into unconsciousness was someone in red and black robes approaching me.

_Avatar Roku's POV_

_Aang what have you gotten yourself into? _Thought Roku, as he looked down upon the unconscious form of Aang. I hope he has what it takes to defeat Sozin otherwise the Air Nomads may cease to exist.

"Aang"

No response.

"Aang wake up"

_Aang's POV_

"Aang"

I heard my name but my body refused to move.

"Aang wake up"

"Oh, I forget to mention, stop trying to move your body, try to move your mind."

Aang heard the person chuckle.

"Aang imagined himself opening his eyes and he opened them to see an elderly Fire Nation man.

"Who are you?" Asked Aang with a curious spark in his eyes.

The man smiled. "I am Avatar Roku, your past life."

Aang's face widened in surprise but quickly straightened himself and bowed before Roku.

"Avatar Roku, the monks want to send me away to the Eastern Air Temple away from Gya-

"Aang, I have been watching you your entire life to guide you to the path of becoming a fully realized avatar and keeping the balance. Normally Avatars would not watch over their future lives as much as I have but I had to take into consideration how and why I died." Roku frowned, obviously deeply in thought.

"What do you mean Roku?

Roku looked away from Aang, in emotional pain. Aang thought he say Roku crying but he quickly recovered and faced Aang again.

"From the beginning of my life I was friends with Firelord Sozin, although at that time he was just Sozin, prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne. He was a very kind young man, and we were great friends until I learned that I was the Avatar. We thought our friendship was over but we left on good terms. So I spend the next 2 decades traveling the world learning the elements. It might please you to know that Gyatso was in fact, a child at one point, not always the old man you see today."

"Aang flushed with embarrassment until he comprehended what Roku just stated.

"You knew Gyatso!"

"Oh yes, while I was learning Airbending we were great friends." Roku smiled as he remembered flying with his glider and Gyatso cheering him on.

Aang smiled.

"So when I returned to the Fire Nation to see my old friend Sozin, we rekindled our relationship even when he grew to be the Firelord. We even got married on the same day. However, he soon told me of his so called "dream" to spread the Fire Nation across the world. As the Avatar, I refused, and our friendship was broken. I left again to settle down with my wife and have a family, but keeping a careful eye on the rest of the world. 10 years passed and I soon learned that Sozin had Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. I was so outraged I immediately flew to the Fire Nation palace and confronted Sozin. We got into a fierce battle and I warned him if he did any midoings against the world again, that I would end him. I should have been more decisive, but I got caught up in our previous friendship that my emotions got in the way. "

"So for the next 25 years, we did not speak at all. I was living with my family on an island hundreds of miles from the Fire Nation Palace. There were two volcanoes that erupted, and I tried to save the village, but when I thought all hope was lost, Sozin arrived. We were both old men, but we worked together to try to cool the lava, but we were soon overwhelmed and tried to evacuate."

"We ran side by side and I protected him from the toxic gases before having one geyser erupt in my face. I begged to him for help but he said without me, his plans of conquest were suddenly possible."

Aang yelled," How could he just leave you like that!"

Roku grimaced. He was disappointed that Sozin still chose his expansion over their friendship. How many times did Roku save Sozin that fateful day? From falling to death to toxic gases, and he still betrayed him.

"People change Aang, and his selfish goals overwhelmed his care for me in the end."

"So these past 12 years he has been planning how to take the world by force. He plans to use the Comet that enhances Firebending to attack the Air temples-

"WHAT?! He can't do that! They are innocent and defenseless!"

"It isn't strategic to attack them in his first strike, unless the Avatar was only a 12 year old Air Nomad. He doesn't know where or who you are, so he is going to kill all the airbenders."

"We have to stop him!" Yelled Aang. He was pacing back and forth in distress.

"Aang, You have to master all the elements and confront him before the Comet arrives, or he will plunge the world into a pointless war."

"How long do I have Roku?"

"About 5 months I'm afraid"

"5 months! How am I supposed to master the elements and defend my people from genocide in only 5 months!"

"Well Aang, you just have to-

"Aang, you are losing control of your body, if you don't wake up soon, you will be imprisoned in the Spirit world until someone can set you free from the ice. You need to wake up now!"

_Aang's POV_

Aang woke up still in the Avatar state, but not in control of his body. _I wish I knew waterbending so I could get out of this ice_. I don't want to be stuck in here forever! My body suddenly moved and started cracking open the ice. Appa woke up from the noise and tried to help me with his airbending. We quickly broke off some ice and used it to break the iceberg into pieces. My body created a water spout and sprung Appa and I free from the ocean.

**This chapter was kind of rushed. I was behind on schoolwork and had to catch up, plus I was having writer's block. It isn't the best chapter but I tried.**


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